End-gate.



Patented Sept. 3, IQUI. A. L. FOSTER.

END GATE.

(Application filed June 14, 1901.)

mi mums .uns co vlo'mufln. 'umu UNITED STATES ABRAHAM L. FOSTER, OF LACROSSE,

APATENT OFFICE.

KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-TI-IIRDS TO LEVIS H. WIIITEMAN AND ELBERT F. WHITEMAN, OF SAME PLACE.

END-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N ci. 682,054, dated. September 3, 1901.

Serial No. 64.570. (No model.)

T a/ZZ wtont it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM L. FOSTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lacrosse, in the county of Rush and State of Kansas, have invented. a new and useful End- Gate, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in end-gates.

The object of the present invention is to 1o improvethe construction of end-gates, and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device of great strength and durability adapted to securely fasten an end-gate in a wagonbody and capable of enabling the same to be x 5 quickly removed and replaced.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed zo out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of an end-gate provided with a fastener constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is avertical sectional view. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views ofthe plates or sections.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

l designates an end-gate composfd of two sections connected at their inner faces by hinges 2 and arranged in vertical ways ofthe sides 3 of a wagon-body. The ways are preferably formed by vertical cleats 4, and the sections of the end-gate, which are arranged between the vertical cleats, are preferably provided at their outer faces with cleats 5. The hinges 2, which are arranged at the in- 4o ner face of the end-gate, have their leaves secured to the adjacent ends of the sections, and the inner ends of the sections of the endgate are adapted to swing outward to permit the outer ends of the sections to be readily withdrawn from the spaces between the vertical cleats 1 of the sides of the wagon-body. Secured to the outer faces of the sections of the end-gate, at the inner ends of the same, are plates 6 and 7, which are provided at their in- 5o ner adjacent edges with vertical flanges 8 and. 9, extending rearward from the end-gate and adapted to fit against each other and be enl gaged by a vertically-movable casing 10,Which connes the flanges and prevents the inner ends of the sections of the end-gate from swinging rearward, whereby the sections of the end-gate are maintained in alinement and are firmly held in engagement with the sides of the wagon-body. The flange 9 of the plate 7 fits against the lower portion of the ange 6o 8, which is extended above the said fiange 9, and the upper portion 1l of the flange 8 is enlarged orr thickened and is provided with a slot l2 to receive a fastening device 13 of K the vertically-movable casing. The casing, which forms a catch for holding the flanges together, is composed of parallel sides and a connecting front portion, and it is provided at its bottom with an outwardly-extending arm 14., forming a grip or lip to enable the 7o casing to be readily raised for releasing the flanges. The fastening device 13, which is disposed horizontally, preferably consists of a pin or rivet mounted in perforations of the sides of the casing and passing through the slot 12, which is Vertical, and limiting the movement of the casing. The outer face of flange 9 of the plate 7 is arranged in the same plane as the adjacent face of the enlarged or thickened portion 11 when the two flanges 8o` are together, and the casing or catch is adapted to hold the flanges firmly together. The pressure at the inner face of the end-gate will operate to cause the flanges 8 and 9 to bind against the inner faces of the sides of the 8 5 slide or catch, and the latter will be held in its engaging` position both by friction and gravity. When the sliding casing or catch is in its engaging position, as illustrated in Fig. 1 ofthe accompanying drawings, its upper 9o edges are flush with the upper edge of the enlarged portion of the liange Sof the plate 6. The plates 6 and 7, Which are perforated for the reception of screws or other suitable fastening devices for securing them to the sections of the end-gate, are preferably ornamental in character, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but any form of plate may be used.

When it is desired to remove the end-gate, roo the sliding casing is raised until its lower end is above the flange 9, and the sections of the end-gate may then be swung outward or rearward on the hinges 2. In order to enable the outer ends ofthe sections to be readily engaged with and disengaged from the ways of the wagon-body, the said outer edges 15 are rounded at their inner faces, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The end gate may be quickly placed in the ways of the sides of the Wagonbody byintroducing the ends of the sections therein and then forcing the sections inward in alinement with each other.

It will be seen that the end-gate fastener is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it possesses great strength and durability, and that while it securely locks an end-gate in a wagon-body it will permit the same to be quickly removed and replaced.

. It will also be apparent that the sliding catch or casing is` held in engagement with the flanges of the plates both by gravity and by friction when there is any pressure on the inner face of the end-gate.

1. A device of the class described comprising the plates provided with flanges, and a catch or casing receiving the fianges and locking them together and adapted to release the same, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with an end-gate composed of' sections hinged together, of flanges mounted on the sections at their inner hinged edges and arranged to abut against each other when the sections of the end-gate are in alinement, and a catch for holding the iianges together, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with an end-gate composed of hinged sections, of vertical flanges mounted on the sections and at their innerhinged edges and arranged to abut against each other when the said sections are in alinement, and the sliding catch or casing mounted on one of the flanges and arranged to engage the other, sub'- stantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with an end-gate composed of hinged sections, of vertical iianges mounted on the sections, one of the iianges being extended beyond the other, and a sliding casingmounted on the extended portion of the said flange and composed of two sides connected together and arranged to confine the iianges, substantially asl described.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of an endgate, of a fastener comprising the plates provided with flanges 8 and 9 arranged vertically the flange 8 be'- ing extended beyond the iiange 9, and en larged and slotted, a slide or casing composed of sides connected together and arranged to confine the anges, and a fastening device mounted on the slide or casing and passing through the said slot, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ABRAHAM L. FOSTER.

Witnesses:

W. H. RUSSELL, J. B. MORRIS. 

